Pearls Of Deen

Can I use my husband's surname?

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

A wife adopting the last name (surname) of her husband upon marriage is neither unlawful (haram) nor required in Shari'ah. As such, both positions – i.e. to say it is haram or that it is necessary – are incorrect and extreme in one way or another.

In order to understand this issue properly, it is important to first realize that one of the central aims (maqasid) of Shari'ah is the preservation of one's lineage (nasab). It is unlawful and a major sin to change one's lineage and ascribe one's self to other than one's biological father. Many texts of the Qur'an and Sunna mention this explicitly; for example:

Allah Most High says, "... And He [Allah] did not make your adopted sons your [real] sons. That is [merely] a word uttered by your mouths. And Allah says the truth and He shows the [right] way. Call them by [the name of] their [real] fathers; It is more equitable in the sight of Allah. And if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in faith and your friends..." (Qur'an 33: 4-5)

The backdrop of this verse is that people in the days of ignorance (jahiliyya) would treat an adopted child as a biological one in all aspects, and attribute him to the one who adopted him, thereby giving the impression that the adoptive father is the real father. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) adopted Zayd ibn Haritha (Allah be pleased with him); and according to common practice, the companions (Allah be pleased with them) began referring to him as "Zayd ibn Muhammad". When the abovementioned verse was revealed, they reverted to calling him "Zaid ibn Haritha". As such, the above verse was revealed to lay down the principle that an adopted child must not be considered as the real son of his adoptive parents. (See the major Qur'anic Tafsirs)

Sayyiduna Sa'd (Allah be pleased with him) says that I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) say, "Whoever claims to belong/ascribes himself to other than his [biological] father, knowing that he is not his father, then Paradise will be denied to him." (Sahih al-Bukhari no: 6385 and Sahih Muslim)

However, the above – and other similar texts – need to be understood in their proper context. The idea is not that the usage of any name or attribution after one's name, besides that of the father, is unlawful; rather the Shari'ah categorically prohibits ascribing one's lineage to other than one's biological father or claiming that someone else is one's biological father. This is unlawful because it misleads others, and also comprises showing ungratefulness to one's parents and denying them their basic right of parenthood.

The great Muhaddith and Shafi'i jurist Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his commentary of Sahih Muslim, "The meaning of 'claims to belong/ascribes himself to other than his father' [in the Hadith] is that he ascribes and attributes himself to him and takes him as his father." (Al-Minhaj sharh Sahih Muslim no: 61)

Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni (Allah have mercy on him), the great Muhaddith and Hanafi jurist, also provides the same explanation in his commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari, saying, "The words of the Hadith 'man idda'a ila' means: ascribing one's self to other than one's biological father." (Umdat al-Qari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari 16/48)

This is clearly understood by studying the other Hadiths that have been narrated in the same context.

After recording the above Hadith regarding Paradise being denied to someone who claims to belong to other than his father, Imam al-Bukhari records another Hadith related by Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, "Do not reject your fathers, for whosoever rejects his father, that is disbelief." (Sahih al-Bukhari no: 6391)